10 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 



ture of fresh water being allowed to enter the sea 

 pond the fish recommenced feeding, and by regulat- 

 ing the density of the water so as to obtain a more 

 gradual transference from fresh to salt, the fish 

 became thoroughly acclimatised. Owing, however, 

 to an unfortunate accumulation of disintegrated and 

 decaying seaweed drawn in from the outer beach 

 through the syphon, and w^hich was suddenly stirred 

 up so that a large quantity of gas was liberated, 

 many of the fish suddenly died, and the remainder 

 had to be transferred to the fresh water ponds. 



After a second attempt had been made under 

 healthier conditions, Mr. Muirhead, his Grace's com- 

 missioner, kindly sent me a specimen 13 inches long 

 (33 cm.). It was a beautiful silvery little fish, and 

 had been reared for two years in fresh water and 

 one year in the sea pond. It was figured along with 

 a specimen of a young fish from Galway river in the 

 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 

 (xxv. p. 395). I understand, however, that for 

 some reason or other the pond has again become 

 unsatisfactory ; but it would appear that, given 

 healthy conditions of sea life and suitable food, the 

 artificial rearing of grilse is quite a possibility. 



These experiments under artificially induced con- 

 ditions do not, however, teach us a great deal about 

 the real life history of the salmon. The descent of 

 the smolt to the sea is prompted by a most powerful 

 instinct. Give fish in confinement as much and as 

 carefully selected food as they can eat, and the 

 silvery smolts are in no way induced to forego their 

 seaward migration. For the healthy growth and 



